Mascot par-tey

So I’m back from KC, city of fountains, steak, and darn good BBQ! Did you know that only Rome has more fountains that Kansas City? Well now you do! One day, that tidbit of information will be very useful when you’re on Jeopardy, or something.

I flew out to KC on Friday and met up with my mascot buddies Rangers Captain, Mr. Met, Billy the Marlin, and the Phanatic. Mariner Moose didn’t quite make it due to some flight delays and the fact that the breaks on his plane caught on fire. When we heard about his break fire adventure and how they got stuck on the runway while the fire trucks came out , we all had one very important question, "Did you get to ride the big slide off the plane?" No, he said. They just exited off the back of the plane. We mascots thought that was a rip off. If your plane partially catches on fire, you should at very least get to ride the big slide off the plane.

The first night we got to enjoy the game in a catered suite. All the hotdogs and snausages I could eat. The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn (which is much earlier than I’m used to waking up, which is the crack of noon) to do an appearance at the Build a Bear workshop at the mall. Hundreds of kids lined up to meet us rock star mascots. After that it was off to the game. We had a pregame celebration on the field. We faced off vs. some kids in a game of tug-o-war (they won, can you believe it?) then it was time for the cake. Unfortunately the guy carrying the cake took a dive, right into the cake. Luckily they had a giant cake to make up for it. They pulled it out on the back of an ATV…craziness. Then we all sat back and watched the video celebration of Sluggerrr, "Through the years."

During the game we went out to the little K zone where Mr. Met hit a walk off homerun to set off the fireworks. Billy sank his first put to win…something. I’m, not sure what. Then came the big dance off in the 5th inning. It was me vs. the Phanatic. I went first, and rocked out to the song "Get low." When I did my patented butt shimmy, I heard the whole crowd laugh. Yea…I’m that good. Then it was the Phanatic’s turn. They threw him a curveball and played "Loving you, is easy ’cause you’re beautiful." He was confused, but danced as best as he could. Then they played some real music for him, but he grabbed a security guard and forced him to dance. The guard shook his groove thing, winning the approval from the crowd. The results of the dance off were unclear, with a seeming split vote between me and the security guard, but when I was in the upper bowl a little kid came up to me and said "You won the dance off." so I’ll take that as fact. Recognize the skillz folks, recognize!

After an hour long 8th inning and the subsequent hotdog launch, we mascots called it a day. It was off to downtown KC for some BBQ. Ever have burnt ends and BBQ sausage? I recommend it! After dinner we headed down to the plaza for some dancing and smoothies. It was a great ending to a fun fun mascot party.

Congratulations Sluggerrr, for 10 years of laughter! May you have 50 more!

That’s all for now. I’m heading out to Philly on Friday to play with the Phanatic and watch our first ever series vs. the Phillies. I’m going to eat cheese steaks and reenact Rocky.